Oil leak

My boy has a 94 LS with over 150,000 miles. He has a leak coming from the left side of the head just under the distributor. When he drives really hard it starts to leak. After he wipes it off and drives normally it won't leak anymore. Also when his enigne idles it rattle like crazy and send vibes throughout the car including his shifter which really annoys him.
I'm thinking it's a leaking headgasket. Any thoughts and comments will be greatly appreciated.

Leaking headgasket would cause a few things
1: reduction in power
2: coolant in oil...which would show up as bubbles in the oil
3: white smoke coming from exhaust

Also the shaking could be from worn motor mounts...it is fairly common in older Honda/Acuras with that kind of mileage for the motor mounts to get worn out and let the engine vibrate like crazy.

Believe it or not but I'm having the same problem with my car. I have a 95' GSR and I just had the engine rebuilt. Only when I drive really hard does my car leak oil. Also it vibrates really bad at idle. Iradically though. If it was a steady vibration I would just figure it was the polyurethane inserts I put in my brand new motor mounts but it's not. It's an uneven vibration. Nobody has been able to figure it out so I'm in the same boat. I'm thinking of just selling my car.

Any help from an expert would be very appreciated.

I just checked out my boys engine yesterday and I found out that it can't be the head gasket. The oil is coming from the head. Maybe the camseal on the left side of the engine is leaking or I could be wrong. But the idling is really bad. I drove it on the highway and when it reaches 65MPH the pedals and shifter vibrates so much that you don't wanna accelerate even faster. Could this still be a engine/tranny mount issue? Thanks in advance.

Have you checked the tranny and motor mounts yet? They could very well be the problem, that is where I would start.

Try the o-ring that seals the distributor off. What you are explaining is normal for any leak. When you get on the engine, you increase the oil psi and force it thorough the poorly sealed spots. The honda valve cover gaskets do leak from the corners (corners between the two cam humps) Cam seal, o-ring, corners of the valve cover gasket and if you have vtec, I have even heard of them leaking from the area around the solenoid.
The vibration could be several different things. Your idle air control valve, fast idle thermo valve, throttle position sensor, motor mounts, bad tire, poor camber/toe are amongst a few of them. You will need to narrow down what all it could be. If you have checked the mounts and not ridden the problem, I would then try the I.A.C.V. or F.I.T.V., if there is not fix at idle, try the T.P.S. For high speed rattle, resort back to the tires, camber/toe, mounts, control arms, and lastly wheel bearing/hub assembly.

I know thats a lot of possibilities, but I wanted to put more than just check your mounts...
Don't get me wrong, there are several other things it could be; however, I listed the most popular issues.
Good luck!

I just put a newly rebuilt distributor on my car about a month ago. But even before I did that it still leaked. I also replaced the gasket for my vtec solenoid. The leak is still coming from the left side of my engine. As far as the vibrating, I think your right about the sensors. I have 3 brand new torque mounts in my engine bay so I don't think it's that. What do you think is a reasonable price to get all my sensors checked out. I'm not too good with electrical stuff.

Depends where you take it. The dealer will likely be the best bet on sensors, as they will actually consult the book for voltage and offer advice accordingly. Some mechaincs will be like, well, you are not getting a proper idle, so it can be this this or that. Lets start with replacing this kind of thing. You will end up broke fast:)

It requires only a multimeter, a few tools and some time to check them for proper operation.


Have you removed the valve cover gasket to check the corners for leakage?